Seriuos Component Failure

[SURFER]

Some bad luck the last month.  After years of good service my MTB 26 rear American Classic rim cracked. Been riding the wheel since 2009.

 

Week ago the Sram 971 chain broke.  On closer inspection I noticed some more crack in the chain.  When riding I alternate every 2 nd week between 2 chains.  The second chain also Sram 971.  No cracks on it

[Capricorn]

PTR tank shares your concerns: SCC!

[EmptyB]

How old is the guilty chain?

[SURFER]

If i would guess I would say a 1-2 years.  I am using two chains and not cycling much.  

[Sparki 1]

wow dude, that chain 'cracks' me up! I've never seen anything like that b4. will be following this thread and see what the "masters" has to say.

[rvdm1]

I can't imagine a chain should ever crack like that under normal use, unless it is worn FAR past the point where it should be replaced. If you get one crack in a link that can be attributed to a material/manufacturing defect or whatever but with the amount of cracks you have, it looks like a design flaw IMO.

[PeterF]

That rim looks like it has been ridden without a tyre for a few km's!!!

[BDF]

It looks like there is rust around the pins on that chain. This would mean lack of lubrication where the chain needs it most. Over time this will cause repeated heating and cooling of the chain which can harden the links and make them brittle. My guess is that this is what happened here.

 

If I were to hazard a guess it seems likely that you regularly degrease the chain in a solvent of some description. There is at least on other thread that has discussed that at length. Take a look there for some tips on chain care.

[Skylark]

Never seen a chain like that, I'd say manufacturers fault

[PeterF]

Never seen a chain like that, I'd say manufacturers fault

Not after 1-2 years of use.

[PeterF]

Not after 1-2 years of use.

I think BDF has nailed it.

[SURFER]

When buying SRAM chains it is packed in a plastic holder.  I know that when I bought one of the chains the last time (not sure if it this was this one), the chain was only packed in a normal plastic bag with no chain links.  Could it be that it is not a genuine SRAM chain but a copy?

 

Yes, I regularly degrease the chain in a solvent of some description, but has been doing that for years with SRAM chains.

 

 

Regarding the rim, never ridden the rim without a tire.  Been using STANS.  I believe that over the years it started to corrode where the valve enters the rim.

[Martin PJ]

The chain looks like failure due to corrosion, the cycling just finished it off. I have heard of chains breaking in multiple areas after being soaked in degreaser.

[SURFER]

Not after 1-2 years of use.

 

Not lying, but even if it was used for a much longer time it will not crack like that.  I started to use the 2nd same time, no problem

[Martin PJ]

http://velonews.competitor.com/2005/11/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/technical-qa-with-lennard-zinn-not-so-simple-green-2_9216

 

There are some links describing this problem with chains soaking for extended periods.

[SURFER]

After reading reading all the comments I believe I know what happened 

 

As I mentioned before, I use two chains and the chains is not old or worn.  Normally after washing (degreasing) the chain, I will leave it in the sun to dry.  This specific chain was left outside for a week (forgot about it since I replaced it with the 2nd chain, first time this happened).  In this week it got some rust on  the surface.  I used a mix of degreasing solvent and some Q rust-off solvent to  remove the surface rust.  I soaked it for about 5 minutes. Never used the Q rust-off solvent on a chain before.

,

After lubing it I cycle for about 1 km when this happened. 

 

it has to be the Q rust-off solution